In a win for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federal appeals court has granted a hold on a U.S. district judge’s ruling that backed Florida in a fight about the cruise-ship industry.
The CDC put in a request on July 7 for the court to issue a stay after U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday refused to put on hold his June 18 ruling that the CDC overstepped its legal authority in placing cruising restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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New court documents show the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the motion Saturday from the CDC. The initial ruling from Merryday granted the preliminary injunction in a 124-page ruling that was supposed to go in effect on Sunday, July 18, which would have made the CDC’s rules a “recommendation” or “guideline.”
Attorneys representing the CDC wrote in the initial request that the injuction “rests on errors of law and is a clear abuse of the district court’s discretion” and argued it will “exacerbate the spread of COVID-19.”
Now that the stay was issued, the CDC rules will stay in place allowing the industry to resume operations if certain thresholds were met.
The court granting the stay comes as Florida is seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases and a higher positivity rate. The latest data from the Florida Health Department shows more than 45,000 new cases have been reported with an 11.5% positivity rate. That’s about four times higher than this time in June.
Originally found on Read More
